I trudged down the sidewalk, the cold, as usual, biting at my skin like mad ice hyenas.
I moved quickly, I had to get to work on time. I hadn't been there in about a day, and I needed to keep my savings up.
I really needed to thank Tiana for taking over my shift. Even while dealing with Navine, she's been able to handle my shift.
I shoved my hands into my pockets, and ducked into the collar of my coat. Trying to cuddle up into a ball while I was walking.
I looked to the side.. And I saw a familiar face. Dark skin, dark, dark brown hair and twinkling eyes.
"Tiana?" I questioned the girl that passed by me, wrapped up in a white and light green coat. The girl suddenly turned around, and looked up.
"Oh, Mer! Sorry, I didn't really see you." Tiana said, her head poking up from being tucked in her coat as well.
"What're you doing out?" I asked, taking a step towards her.
There was a sorrowful gleam in her eye, and she looked away. "Well, the cafe had to close early, because I must leave.. To go back to New Orleans, to see Navine's parents."
"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Tiana said she'd never go back to her hometown.. After Hurricane Katrina, I guess it gave her bad memories of the past. Her restaurant being swept away and all back then...
"Because," She choked out, "Navine's been murdered."
I gasped, "No! What?! When!?"
"Today." She simply answered, "I just got the news a few minutes ago."
"A few minutes ago? Wh.. Where was the last place Navine was? Or do you know where he was murdered?" I asked, extremely curious.
"He was murdered by the Haddock family tomb. He went there to 'observe the premises' for his story." Tiana mumbled, still looking away.
"But.. I was just there a couple hours ago. And left just half an hour ago..."
"Oh yeah," She said rolling her eyes. "That's totally a short time back to notice a murder."
"I'm just saying.. I saw no trace or looked around-"
"Were you on the Dreamworks side?" Tiana questioned, placing a hand on her hip.
"Well no-" She immediately cut me off,
"Then of course you saw nothing if you were on the disney side. You do know how large that Cemetary is, right? It almost takes up one-third of the town." She sighed, "I know you're trying to help by saying you were observant. But the only evidence is Navine's blood soaked body. There's no trail, no footprints, no DNA, no nothing around to identify who did it. No one else was around other than the maintenance men, and they were all on the Disney side."
I slowly nodded, looking to the side. "Well. All I can really say is... I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for," She replied, "You didn't murder him, so it's not your fault. It's slightly a good thing for me, I have one less lazy butt to take care of. Besides.. Being a young widow can't be the worst.. Right?"
I shrugged, "It shouldn't be the worst of the worst..."
Tiana gave me a small nod. "Well I should be going, before a blizzard closes down the train lines."
I nodded, "Alright, have fun going back to New Orleans."
"I'll try, see ya Mer." She said, and with that, Tiana strode off.
I huffed out a sigh, turned and continued walking down the sidewalk. This time planning to check out the café first, then go home right away.
****
My teeth were chattering, and it had began snowing a little now. By the time I had gotten to the café.
I turned and looked to the big window.. Tiana said she closed this place for today.. But the lights are still on.
I decided to go ahead and shut them off, if the door was unlocked. Just so Elsa didn't have to pay an extreme electrical bill.
I walked up to the door, and oddly, it pushed open easily. Once again, Tiana said she closed up.. She should've at least turned the lights off and locked the door. But, at least she turned the chairs upside down onto the tables.
The place was almost as cold as it was outside, so she clearly shut the heat off..
I scanned the area, making sure no one had gotten in. Once I saw there was no trace of anyone getting in, I walked over to the lightswitches.
Just as I was about to flip the switches. I heard footsteps coming from the backroom.
I froze for a minute, and turned to the backroom. Oh my god.. What was I supposed to do? Wh- What do I do now? How do I do it?
I realized I was kind of panicking for no reason, I just stood there. I was going to wait to see who came out, to see if it was someone I needed to worry about.
Suddenly the door to the backroom swung open, and the familiar person nearly knocked the wind clear out of me.
The familiar, slender girl. With strawberry blonde hair, and lightly freckled cheeks. Anna.
Anna suddenly turned to me, and my gaze went straight to her eyes. They were a cold blue, not a mean cold blue, but a deathly cold blue.
"Oh, Hey Mer." She said with a smile on her face, as she walked over to the counter.
"A- A- Anna?" I stammered, taking a few steps back.
"Yeah?" She questioned, striding behind the counter, and I froze as I backed up into a wall, and grabbed onto it.
"B- B- But how are you here?" I asked, eyes widening.
"Um.. I move my feet across the ground.. My body goes with my feet.. So I moved my feet to here." Anna replied with a small smirk.
"B- B- But you-" I stuttered, pointing a finger at her.
"But I what? Oh! Do I have something in my teeth! I probably do! Oh my gosh, do you have a toothpick or something?" She exclaimed, pressing a hand to her cheek.
"B- But you're dead!" I choked out, and Anna just began twitching.
Her smile ran creepily from ear to ear, and her head tilted to the side. She suddenly began stomping towards me. "D-Dead.. Now where would you get a funny idea like that? Look at me! I'm not dead.. I'm perfectly live."
She began getting closer to me. "Like you.." And closer. "..and me.." And closer. "Comepletely.. Live."
Suddenly she was directly in front of me, with a finger pointed, and moving towards my chin.
Then out of the blue, I heard a familiar voice call out my name. "Merida!"
Then the backroom door burst open, and a wave of black sand that floated in mid-air, swooped into the room. It flew to Anna, and suddenly circled around her.
Anna let out a screech, before suddenly, as the floating black sand moved away a little. A white mist floated off her body, and she suddenly fell face first, sliding off of me, then flopping onto the ground.
I shrieked a little, and looked up at the black sand. It suddenly began taking shape, like it was filling up a container. But filled up a container that was a mold, of a man, that's form seemed so familiar.
The black sand was formed into a man, who seemed so oddly familiar.. Two green lighting circles appeared where the eyes should be. The figure of sand just looked like a black ghost, staring at me with cold green eyes.
The sandy figure of a man, then looked to Anna's body. It pointed it's sand made-up hand towards the body, and black sand emerged from it. It enveloped Anna's soulless body, and the body disappeared in the sand.
The sand retracted to the figure's hand, and then figure's green lights stared at me for a moment.
Suddenly the figure's hand snapped its fingers, and with one blink, I opened my eyes to see a dark, cold, cafe. With no evidence of the previous events.
Leaving me alone. On my own. By myself.
